Halfway There
by mrsschmidt
Summary: A love story about Kendall and an average girl named Rebecca. Told from Rebecca's point of view. Long story, short chapters
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: When the chips are down, back against the wall**

In my seventh grade year at my school, I had blown through a lot of guys and was called a slut by the "popular" kids, or as I called them, the kids who think they're super smart and better than everyone, but they're not. Not really caring what my reputation was like, I followed my heart, and broke others. Even though my heart took me back and forth between two guys, I still followed it, and did as I pleased without caring about the feedback of all the other witnesses.

One week I was with Kaleb, and the next I was with Jake, and back and forth until I finally gave up, and stayed single for a while. I was only 13, I mean, what else was there to do to stop me from jumping back and forth? Get married?

Eventually the "Rebecca's a slut" thing stopped, and everyone got over it, and I maintained the reputation I actually deserved. I didn't care that I was being called a slut; for I had scoffed at the nickname I'd obtained. If they had my heart and mind, they'd understand completely, and they would've backed off. What they didn't get was that my mind worked differently than theirs, and I felt differently than they felt, but as everyone else in the school, I was judged by my actions, and not my personality. If I had explained my back-and-forth issues to any of them, they would've been in tears. Or, they would've at least wanted to slap themselves for saying what they did.

The third quarter of the year had passed and I was still single. Now in the fourth and last quarter of my seventh grade year, I didn't know what I was going to find.

One day in my third period class, I met a boy named Chase. And frankly, from the start I thought he was just absolutely fantastic. He was quiet and shy, but he was gorgeous. Dark brown hair, deep brown eyes, and a heartbreaking smile - his features were undeniably attractive. He caught my heart from the minute I really noticed him, and one day I had finally started to talk to him.

This led into a best-friendship, and then into a relationship, which of course only lasted a month, and ended on July twenty-second, smack in the middle of the summer. We had both agreed that we just weren't right for each other, and luckily we're still friends today.

Then about six days later, my ex-boyfriend, Kaleb, asked me back out again. Which, the question wasn't one I was able to turn down easily, but yet I unwillingly said yes. Having been in a serious relationship with him since the previous November that lasted until about January, then stopped and picked up again in February, then again ended in around May, I couldn't shake my feelings for him, no matter how badly I wanted to.

So, my "love" life (you could call it that) at the age of 13 was pretty confusing, as pathetic as that is.

The rest of the summer went by, and without seeing Kaleb the whole time, I went back to school to start my what-was-going-to-be-wonderful eighth grade year. And, indeed, it was wonderful.

I walked in the doors of the school that day with high expectations and the feeling of knowing I looked fantastic. Hopping up the steps and making my way into the eighth grade hallway, I looked for my familiar homeroom class. Finally, someways down the hall, I found them, all in one spot. Saying hi to a bunch of people, I walked in the door to my new homeroom to get my papers, then made my way back out in an attempt to find my locker.

Coming in the door as I was walking out was Kaleb. I was happy, but yet not too happy to see him, and only giving him a faint smile, I went out the door faster and scurried around looking for locker number 3069.

Once I had loaded all my stuff in the locker, I took what I had thought I needed, and went back into my homeroom and took a seat in the back near my three good friends, Tori, Donna, and Sam. Sadly, Kaleb came back and sat around us, too.

I was examining the new room that I would soon be oh-so familiar with when a new boy in the front caught my eye. I didn't see his face, only his back, but from the back he looked rather good. He was the third alphabetically on the list; I knew so when I heard him respond "Here!" to "Schmidt," for my new homeroom teacher had preferred to call us by our last names.

It took the teacher quite a bit to mark that we were here, and why that was, I wasn't sure, so the time between name calling was about two minutes.

"Schmidt" had looked extremely attractive from the back. He propped himself up on his desk with a folder and tablet perfectly between his elbows, and held his face up by resting his palms on his jawline. He had long-ish blonde hair, which looked darker underneath, but had dirty blonde highlights on the top. It wasn't too long; it ended a little below the top of his ear. And the way it was styled looked as if his hair had been freshly flipped by a quick look to his right. It looked like soft hair, that I desperately wanted to touch. His upper body looked a bit muscly, but not too much, and that turned me on. From what I could see his shoulders were broad, and I could already tell he stood tall, even though he was sitting down.

I enjoyed the sound of his last name. Schmidt ... it sounded like a name I could get used to. Then I sighed, wishing I had known his first name as well. Little did I realize that we actually had the same last name. Fortunately, I knew we weren't related; for I had never seen him before.

The seconds that went by seemed like hours. "Becca ... ?" Kaleb pondered, his face intent on mine, then looking in the direction that I was staring. "What are you staring at?" He asked with jealously, probably knowing that I had been looking at the other Schmidt the whole time.

"Oh, sorry," I muttered, coming back to life.

We were chatting away about how excited we were to be in the eighth grade now, but every now and again I would take away from the conversation a bit to watch the tiny things "Schmidt" would do. He played with his pen, or he changed positions, or he looked up and down, but he wouldn't look to the left or right ... this disappointed me, for I couldn't see his face.

The conversation got deeper, as did my distraction because of the new boy that I had grown a strong desire to see. I was distracted to an intense level, and I didn't hear much except my own longing thoughts.

Faintly in the background of my flood of thoughts did I hear my last name being called. "Schmidt," called once. Twice, then a third time. And to my surprise, the boy looked back. His face stunned me, made me jump, and knocked me out of my daydream. "Oh, here!" I called, blushing at my extremely delayed reply. But even while I announced my attendance, I had not taken my eyes off of the boy.

My blue eyes met with his silky-looking green eyes, and I knew right from there that we had some sort of connection.

He had seemed stunned while he was looking at me as well, and neither of us took our eyes of each other. Not once, to look at anything. My heart was thumping out of my chest. I swallowed, and blinked, having not done so in the past five minutes.

I finally noticed my friends had gone silent, and were watching me and the boy stare each other down. I felt Tori's intent look on me, Donna's examination sweeping from my face to his, then back to mine, and Kaleb's glare burning into my cheek. But I still didn't look at any of them, and continued to look at the other Schmidt, so intently that my mouth gaped open a bit.

My mouth was open in awe for a while, and then realizing that I was pretty much catching flies, my eyes got wide, and quickly, I snapped it shut.

At this, the boy giggled, still not taking his eyes off mine. My heart raced even harder, beating more rapidly than it ever had. As any normal reaction, I flashed a meaningful smile. He returned the deed, and his crooked smile stole my heart.

From this I knew that I had to meet this boy for real, and talk to him as much as possible. There was no way that we weren't supposed to feel something for each other, and I promised to myself that I'd work my hardest to make him mine.

Homeroom was then dismissed, and, drooling at this sight of his gorgeous face, I quickly got up, grabbed my things, and unintentionally speed-walked after him, totally ignoring my other friends, and watched him walk into his first period class with longing desire that struck me like a baseball bat to the head.

Little did I know then that this boy was going to be what seems like my soul mate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Got no more to give, because we gave it all**

Three class periods went by, and to my disappointment, he was in none of those classes with me. It was almost lunch time, and when third period was dismissed, I was sad to leave my three good friends, Laura, Callie, and Abby, but I was still excited to see who would be in my fourth period with me.

I walked into the room to see a friendly teacher who had greeted me with a cheerful "Hello," and I found Tori sitting there in the second row from the front, who had saved me a seat next to her. Grateful for this, I told her thank you, and plopped down next to her. We would be dismissed to lunch before fourth period actually started in about five minutes, and Tori and I had starting chatting away about our previous classes, and how cool the teachers were.

Tori was saying something, then the thought of that boy came back. It was then that I felt someone staring me down from the back of the room. Tempted to look back, I resisted, and continued listening to Tori.

In a way, she and I resembled each other, what with our dirty-blonde, almost brunette hair and our blue eyes. The only difference was height, some facial features, and glasses - which Tori wore.

Whoever's stare from the back of the room melted into the back of my neck. I could feel it, and it was burning into the back of me. Finally, I caved in, but not fully.

"Tori," I cut her sentence short. "Sorry I interrupted you, but it feels like there's someone staring at me in the back of the room. Can you look and see if anyone is?"

With a reluctant look, she looked back, and then her blank expression curled up into a devious smile at what she had seen.

"What? Who's back there?" I asked, nervous now. She giggled a little bit before she started. "It's that kid you were ogling in homeroom. Now he's ogling you. He didn't even notice that I'm pretty much glaring at him, that's how focused he is on you," she laughed.

My heart skipped a beat. I sucked in one deep breath, and turned around, only to meet his gaze. Automatically, our eyes locked on each other's, and we exchanged smiles. For the longest time we stared, and Tori sighed beside me, knowing the conversation wasn't going to continue now that we were looking at each other like we were. No words were spoken between he and I, no hello's or attempts to chat, just meaningful gazes were given to each other and enough was being said just by that.

It was then that the teacher had dismissed us to lunch, and I breathed out a heavy puff of hot air. I looked down, then stood up slowly, purposely waiting for him to walk up from the back of the room and be next to me.

"You coming?" Tori asked, already halfway out the room. "I want to get our table now before a bunch of losers steal it."

I chuckled a little at that, and then spoke. "You go, reserve the table. Make sure to save me a spot, I'll catch up." Tori shrugged and walked quickly out of the room, anxious to get our table.

Purposely, I walked slow, hoping he would stop me and say a thing or two. Luckily, my hopes came true.

From behind me, a new voice spoke "Hello," but, it was a voice of an angel. He caught up to me quickly, and looked down at me with a smile that could break the hearts of millions. He was about 5 inches taller, not too tall, but still taller than me, and he was absolutely perfect up close.

As nervous as I'd ever been, I choked out a "Hi" in return. He chuckled, seeing my nervousness. How was he so relaxed?

"I'm happy that I finally get to introduce myself," he smiled. "I'm Kendall."

The look of joy on his face would permanently stick in my head forever. I can still remember it today.

"Kendall," I smiled back. "Nice name. I really like it," I hinted. I was trying to flirt. And I was doing a pretty good job, if I might say so myself. "I'm Rebecca," I informed him, holding out my hand for a handshake as we walked.

We were pretty much the last in the hall, aside from Sam and Kaleb - just my luck. I knew they were watching and so did Kendall; Sam carelessly but Kaleb enviously, as Kendall grabbed my hand with a rather tight grip, and shook it. I couldn't help but let out a small giggle. I was ecstatic. At this point I really didn't care if Kaleb loved me or wanted to stab me.

"What's so funny?" He instigated, but teased at the same time, still holding onto my hand with his tight grip.

"Oh, nothing," I smiled again. "It's just ..." I didn't know how to put what I was about to say. It took me about 15 seconds to say what I wanted to, and he waited patiently, but expectantly for me to say it. "You're really cute," I finally spit out, knowing Kaleb heard.

Kendall seemed impressed. I shrugged, and gave a small smile, then he finally spoke again.

"Well, thanks," he laughed. "Same to you."

My heart almost stopped.

Then I realized our hands were still together, but, as if we were still shaking. I looked down out our hands locked there in awe, and I noticed he was looking at our hands, too, but he was smiling slightly rather than being shocked. I looked back up at him. Now he was watching my face intently, smiling with full interest.

"Oh, I'm sorry that I'm still shaking your hand ..." I blushed. I didn't think "shaking" was the correct term for what our hands were doing, but I put it mildly.

"No, no, it's okay," He reassured me, fixing his hand so that his fingers intertwined with mine. We were now holding hands. I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not. The place and time seemed real, but he didn't. This didn't.

I was too stunned for words. I couldn't move. The arm of the hand that he was holding was completely paralyzed. I wasn't sure what to do, so I let him take control of my hand for me.

He let his arm drop to his side, and mine dropped with it. We held hands fixedly as we strolled slowly down the hall toward the cafeteria.

"You know, I'm new here," He started playfully. "So you're going to have to show me my way around."

"It would be my pleasure," I said, smiling up at him. We laughed. Then he looked down at his feet.

"So, Rebecca," He began almost shyly. "Do you have a boyfriend of any sort?"

My words caught in my throat. Knowing Kaleb - the boyfriend I had no desire to be with right now - was watching, I peeked at him out the corner of my eye. I gulped, and unwillingly told Kendall the truth.

"Yeah, I do," I said with a heavy, half-hearted sigh.

He gave me a questioning look; for he had known there was something I wasn't happy with.

He leaned into my face, and my heart began thumping.

He whispered, "I'm guessing he's the taller of the two behind us, right?" His breath smelled of mint, and I was stimulated by it.

I looked at him, confused, almost as if he had read my mind.

"Yeah," I sighed, with the most depressed look on my face that I could possibly make.

"Don't like him, do you?" He asked, and scoffed a little, letting out an almost evil-sounding chuckle.

I evilly chuckled along. "Not really," I whispered, letting Kendall know I wanted to be single by then giving him a smug look.

"Let me take care of this, here and now," Kendall urged.

"Wait, Kendall, what're you -" I said, louder now, as he cut me off, releasing his grip on my hand, and storming over to Kaleb.

I watched in complete and utter shock at what was going on.

"Hey, buddy," Kendall said, looking down on Kaleb. Kendall was about two inches taller than Kaleb, and this made me laugh at Kaleb's intimidation-struck face.

Kendall reached into his pocket, pulled out a five dollar bill, and slapped it onto Kaleb's chest with a thud that echoed through the empty halls. Kaleb put his hand up, catching the bill, giving Kendall a confused look.

"Here's five dollars," Kendall hinted. "Get yourself a new girlfriend, alright? I'll be taking care of this one now," He said, gesturing to me.

Sam and I stood across from each other, frozen, with a look of entertainment, fear, and shock slapped across our faces.

Kendall strode back over to me, and turned me around to face the direction opposite of Kaleb and Sam. He put his arm in mine, and we walked quickly to the cafeteria, him still not letting go of my arm.

We walked into the cafeteria only to have everyone stare at us. The two un-related Schmidts, arm in arm, strolling into the room as if there was nothing new going on. We almost walked past my table full of close friends when I stopped him, even though I didn't want to.

"Kendall," I alerted him. "Here's my table ... I have to sit," I sighed, giving him a half smile.

As Kaleb and Sam walked in, he looked back at me proudly, stiffened his shoulders, and walked me to the empty seat at my table, where he pulled the chair out and sat me down. He pushed me in closer to the table, then put his hand on my shoulder.

"I'll see you after lunch," He reassured me, then he gave my shoulder one little pat, then he walked away to where his other friends were. They were new, too, and I didn't notice this until I examined them all as Kendall sat down at the table. I could hear them asking him things like, "Who's the girl?" and they sounded excited as ever.

"What's up with you and the new guy?" Tori, Nicole, and Bella, my other good friends, stared at me with the most confused looks on their faces. Bella turned to watch Kaleb sit down in his chair angrily.

"And what happened to Kaleb?" Bella asked, intrigued by what she had just seen.

I simply smiled, shook my head, and looked down, playing with my thumbs. I looked up and around at all of them, then proceeded to tell the story of the wild thing that had just happened, and how I thought that Kendall was perfect for me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Seems like going the distance is unrealistic**

I had never had something like this happen to me so fast before.

I wasn't sure if Kendall and I were a couple, or what was going on, but we definitely had some sort of sparks flying between us. He knew how to play his cards right - he knew exactly what to do and say to get me to fall for him. And so far, it was working, despite the fact that we had just seen each other this morning.

Lunch was over, and Tori and I were walking back to fourth period together. I wanted to wait for Kendall, but I didn't want to seem like a stalker, so I played it cool and casually walked back with my friend in an attempt not to over-obsess.

We walked back into the classroom and sat down in our seats. To my dismay, the teacher decided to put us in alphabetical order - which, wasn't a bad thing, because Tori would be right next to me, or behind me.

The teacher got down the list so far, then called his name.

"Kendall," the teacher said as he pointed to the desk Kendall would be seated at. Kendall strode beautifully over to his new desk, flopped his books down, pulled out the chair, and sat. Then he opened his tablet and scribbled something down quickly.

Not realizing I came right after Kendall on the list, my name was called.

"Rebecca," he said as he pointed to my new desk right next to Kendall. I just nodded my head at the teacher, smiled, and made my way to my seat. Kendall watched me coming, and his smile grew extraordinarily wide. He fixed himself into a new position, with his right elbow on the desk. His hand was propping up his head, and he was leaned casually there waiting for me to sit on the left of him.

Once I sat down, I laid my books on the desk, pushed them a little farther away from me, and put both my elbows on the desk, locking my hands together and propping my chin up on them. Then I turned my head to Kendall, who was smirking from ear to ear.

"How's it hangin'?" Kendall asked, with the most amused look on his face, still grinning as wide as he possibly could.

"It's ..." I started with a half smile. "It's hangin'. What about yourself?" I questioned him with interest.

"Everything's just fine," He said. "Except for one thing, of course ..." He implied with a sincere glance to me, then around the room.

"What's that?" I asked, especially interested now that he had said that.

Then, just my luck, the teacher started the class. "Hello, students!" He greeted us cheerfully. And, with instincts of being polite on our first day, Kendall and I stopped talking. I sighed, knowing I wouldn't know what was upsetting him until the period was over, but sucked it up and listened to the teacher. Kendall winked at me, which made me catch my breath, then turned to look at the teacher as well.

About fifty minutes ticked quickly by, and before I knew it, the period was over. We had spent the previous fifty minutes talking about our summer, re-introducing ourselves and reuniting from last year, and of course, introducing some new students, such as Kendall. The teacher had told us about what topics we'd be spending the next four quarters of the school year on, and each quarter held a different topic. I was heavily interested, and glad I listened rather than focused all my good attention on Kendall. But, of course, I couldn't help but glance at Kendall every now and again, and I thought about what it possibly was that he was upset with.

Our teacher then dismissed us. Kendall got up exactly when I did, and he had his books in his right arm in one quick swipe. He yanked his schedule out of his pocket and looked at me, then back down at the paper.

"Where are you headed next?" He asked with a half smile.

I looked at my schedule as well. "Reading," I told him.

His half smile grew much wider. "And so am I," he laughed. This brought a smile to my face. I liked when he laughed. It gave me chills.

Still curious about what he wasn't happy with, I started to ask him.

"Hey, what was that one thing that wasn't good? You know, when I asked you how-" He cut me short.

"Think we'll get to sit next to each other?" He asked, teasing me.

"Yes, Kendall. There's a pretty good chance we'll sit next to each other, with alphabetical order and all. If not, we'll just pick seats next to each other. But answer my-" He cut me off again.

"Is this the reading room?" He gestured to the room we were now in front of. The smile on his face was playing me.

"Yes. It is. Let's go in and get seats, but when we sit, will you answer my-" He stopped me yet again. We were inside the room now, and there were two seats directly next to each other in the middle of the room. They were perfect for us.

"Come on, let's sit here," He grabbed my wrist and led me to the seats. With a sigh, I followed, and sat down with him.

We were a little late to the class, so when we sat, one more person came in, then the teacher shut the door to the classroom and she began.

We didn't have that much time to talk because the teacher was passing out our books. This teacher seemed strict, and Kendall and I knew if we wanted to sit next to each other, we'd have to behave.

After having received our books, we were put in alphabetical order, and luckily Kendall ended up right in front of me. We were all the way to the right of the room. He was in the first row, and I was in the second row behind him.

Sometimes just to get him going, when the teacher wasn't looking I would lean up ever-so-casually and give the back of his hair a flip or two. At this I could see him smile, and at one point he leaned back into the chair from his usual upward position - elbows on the desk, and such - to get closer to me, as if he was encouraging me to continue playing with his hair. And so, I did.

About fifteen or twenty minutes went by and the cross country team was dismissed - that being my call. With a sigh, knowing I had to leave Kendall, I stood up, and without looking at him, I gathered all my books.

"The two of you are on our cross country team?" The teacher asked with joyful emphasis. I didn't know who the other person was, but being polite, yet still looking down at my pile of books, I answered.

"Yes," I said, looking up with a smile. In harmony with my yes, he said yes, too. I looked up to see Kendall gathering his books as well, and walking up to the door to leave. I was absolutely stunned. He was in cross country, too? I couldn't believe it. This was a miracle.

I walked up to the door along with him, waving goodbye-for-now to my teacher politely.

"Shall we?" Kendall asked, opening the door gesturing for me to walk out before him.

I smiled at him thankfully and we walked to our lockers together, which, of course, were right next to each other.

Silently, we gathered our things together, shut our lockers, and followed the rest of the cross country team to the shuttle bus.

He got on the bus before me, and instinctively, I followed him to whatever seat he had chosen. I sat next to him, and the whole ride, we were quiet. We were both tired because of our long first day, and no words were spoken. We just looked at each other, smiling, my heart racing, and eventually I moved myself close enough to him so that our hips and shoulders touched.

We had just pulled out of our school's parking lot when Kendall had slipped his hand over mine, moving his fingers between mine and locking our hands together. At this my heart almost jumped right out of my chest.

Still without speaking, we arrived at the area of the cross country track and we got ready to practice. How had I not noticed him on the team before? We had been practicing since August.

We did everything together that practice. We stretched together, ran together, and overall stuck together.

Once we reached a certain point on the track, he let out a big huff of air, and breathed back in deeply and slowly. I looked at him and smiled; I knew he was going to say something.

"So, Rebecca," he started off, just as he had when he asked about my boyfriend. "What are you up to this Friday?"

This year school started on a Wednesday, and Friday wasn't far away. I wanted to be with him as soon as possible, and anxiously, I gave up my plans to have a sleepover with Bella and Ali.

"Nothing, yet," I hinted, waiting to be asked to do something with him.

"Would you like to go to the movies with me?" He asked nicely with high hopes, knowing I was going to say yes.

"I would love to," I agreed to his offer. I was in my element now, and I became excited. Unintentionally, I ran faster than I would've liked to.

"Whoa, where are you going?" Kendall called with amusement in his voice, pushing to catch up. I slowed down for him, then he and I finished the course together rhythmically.

Before I knew it, practice was over, and I was sad to see Kendall go. His mom picked him, and he waved goodbye to me with a cute wink as he jogged away to his car. I watched them pull away, and I could see Kendall's gorgeous green eyes on me in the rearview mirror.

A minute later, my dad pulled up to take me home. My dad always had good timing, and I happily hopped in the car, throwing my bags on my feet and pulling out my cell phone.

Then, with a sigh, I realized I hadn't gotten his number. But, I shrugged it off, and continued to reply to the nine texts I had missed while at practice. All of them were questions about Kendall and I, and they were from the people I never would've expected to ask me anything.

In the blink of an eye I was home.

"Somebody bought the house across the street," My dad informed me. This house had been for sale for about three months, and finally somebody bought it. "They just moved all their stuff in yesterday, and starting today, they really live there," My dad finished.

"Really?" I asked, looking across the street to see the car that had just pulled in the driveway. And who hopped out of that car but Kendall.

Funny he had left practice before me, but I ended up home before him. But, there was always the fact that my dad drove rather fast, and knew someways around to get us home quicker.

Did Kendall really live across the street from me now?

He recognized me immediately, and he simply waved, gathered his bags, and hopped up the front steps into his house.

"Wow," I muttered under my breath. Now Kendall lived across the street from me. Shaking my head, dizzy and confused, I took my stuff into the house. I couldn't think to do anything but get a shower, because I needed to clear my head.

So it was for real. He did live across the street from me. And it was then that I thought to myself that things couldn't get any better.

But, like any love story, things did get better.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: We're too far from the start**

Before I knew it the rest of my Wednesday was over. It was a day I'd never forget, being that I met somebody I already had strong feelings for. I wasn't exactly sure what the feelings were yet, but they were strong, and they tugged on my heart.

That night laid down in bed thinking of Kendall, and how he was simply across the street from me right now. He wasn't even half a mile away. I sighed in relief, happy that he was always going to be right there, and I then drifted off with a feeling of comfort.

I woke up and it was Thursday. Yesterday had gone by fast, but I remembered every detail to it. Anxious to see Kendall as soon as I could, I hopped out of bed at five-thirty, a whole hour before I would've normally been awake, and got myself ready. I took time to do this, and I made myself look the best I possibly could.

As I was eating the bagel my mom had prepared for me, the doorbell rang. With curious thoughts of who could possibly be ringing my doorbell at six-fifty in the morning, I sprung up out of my chair, scarfing down the last bite of the bagel, and headed towards the door.

Swallowing and licking the cream cheese residue off of my teeth, I unlocked the door as quickly as possible, only to open it and see Kendall through the storm door, standing there with his black bookbag on his foot and his cross country bag slung over his shoulder, leaning against the banister on the front porch, smiling brightly.

Nervous and excited now, I pushed the storm door open and gestured for Kendall to come in, smiling.

"Good morning," He greeted me in a way almost more-than-friendly.

"Good morning, Kendall," I greeted back, smiling with bright eyes. I was so happy he was here. Even though I was confused at what he wanted at this time of morning before school, I was still beyond pleased to see him.

To my surprise, he opened his arms without saying a word, but I still knew he wanted a hug.

I walked over to him and wrapped my arms tightly around his ribcage, letting my forehead rest on his collar bone. Previously being wide awake because of his arrival at my door, I was now tired and extremely comfortable in Kendall's arms. He didn't release, and neither did I. I was enjoying this too much.

I picked my head up and turned it the opposite way, eyes still closed, and buried my face in his neck enough to hide my whole face, but still not hurt him. I moved my hands from around his body to up on the edge of his shoulders and let them rest gently there. I felt him move his hands from my lower back over to my hips, and we stood frozen there, enjoying the moment while it lasted.

"Rebecca! Who was at the door?" My mom called from her bedroom. I could hear her walking out into the kitchen.

My eyes snapped open. I lifted my head off of Kendall's shoulder and looked at him, giving him a sympathetic smile. Then, unhappily, I let go and picked up his bags from the floor.

"Come on, let's move over to the kitchen," I offered him with a teasing smile.

"Who are you talking to?" My mom insisted, peeking over the edge of the wall from the hallway.

I set Kendall's bags down by the table and motioned for him to sit next to me. So we sat, and I then proceeded to introduce Kendall to my mom. Good thing my dad wasn't awake yet, or he'd be questioning all the energy out of Kendall.

"Mom, this is Kendall," I began happily. "He's our new neighbor. He lives across the street now. He's new at our school. And, he's in two classes of mine, and he's on the cross country team with me." I bragged to my mom about the boy I had found; I could see the approval spread across her face.

"Hello, Mrs. Schmidt," Kendall said politely.

"Hi Kendall," My mom said with an extraordinarily wide smile. "But, call me Liz."

"Oh, and another thing," I started. "His last name is Schmidt, too. Isn't that a coincidence?" I continued to babble. "We aren't related though. We've never seen each other before. Have we?" I pushed, pressuring my mom.

"What's your mom's name?" My mom asked Kendall.

"Stella," Kendall said, still grinning like he was when he was first at the door.

"I never knew a Stella Schmidt," My mom smiled, happy that we weren't related; I knew she was joyful at the fact that I brought this boy into the house. "Where did you live before you came here?"

"Minnesota," Kendall replied, playing with his thumbs and smiling at my mom from across the kitchen.

My mom gave me a smile that to me seemed like she was saying, "You two aren't related. Be happy." Then she started to speak.

"We have no relatives in Minnesota whatsoever. You guys really aren't related." My mom laughed a little, then looked back down at the sinkful of dishes, which she then started to wash.

Kendall and I looked at each other, and I knew exactly what he was thinking, just like he knew what I was thinking. And we were both thinking, "Thank God we aren't related."

"So wait," I started. "What did you need that you came over here?" I pressured Kendall, but I teased him at the same time, grinning.

"Oh," Kendall reminded himself. "My mom wanted me to ask you guys for a ride to school. She knows we go to school together, and she already left for work. So did my dad. Is that any trouble?"

"Of course not!" My mom yelled excitedly from across the room. "We'd love to give you a ride! You can come over every morning if you want!" I loved my mom more than ever right now.

"Thanks," Kendall said, friendly as ever.

I smiled at him. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since I met him, and things between us were already improving.

And so the day went by as it did yesterday. Time went by when we would see each other but not really be together, then fourth period came. We walked to lunch together, back to fourth period separately, then to fifth period together. We went to our lockers to get our cross country stuff together, and we sat on the shuttle bus together. When we got to practice we stretched and ran together. All the things we could possibly do together, we did.

Practice eventually ended, and we were about to leave when I got a call from my dad.

"Rebecca," he said to me. "I can't give you a ride from practice today. I'm close to New York, and I'll be working late." He worked for the street department, and some jobs he had to do were far away.

"Go home with your friend that lives close to the track. I'll pick you up at around six." I sighed, agreed to what he wanted, and hung up the phone.

I was about to turn to go find Laura, the friend that lived close to the track, when Kendall caught my arm.

"I heard all of that conversation," He laughed, and I laughed back. "Why don't you just come home with me?" He offered, letting his hand slide gently down my arm.

My heart beat almost right out of my chest. "S-sure," I stuttered, smiling.

He walked me over to his mom's car. I got in on the opposite side of him and let my bags sit on my feet.

Before I knew it I was home again. I opened the door of the car to get out and go into my house, thanking his mom for bringing me home.

I was about to shut the door when Kendall leaned over and pushed it back open. "Is it alright if I come over to do homework with you in a little bit?" He asked, smirking at me with his beautiful green eyes lit up under the dim sunlight.

"You sure can," I agreed, and then shut the door, walking into my house. In about an hour Kendall was over, and we spent the whole night doing homework together, watching TV, joking and laughing.

The next day, the same routine was used as the last. My mom drove him to school, we spent all the possible time we had together, and his mom drove me home. Before I got out of the car to walk into my own home, Kendall caught the door again. I didn't know what to expect him to ask of me, being that it was Friday, and we had no homework.

"Movies tonight?" He reminded me anxiously.

I had forgotten that we made plans to go to the movies. I was so excited now, and I wanted to go skipping gleefully into my house. But, despite my excitement, I played it cool in front of Kendall.

"Can't wait," I said, a little more anxiously than he was.

"I'll be over in one hour," He said. "My mom's going to drive us. Be ready." He winked, then shut the door, and his mom pulled into their driveway.  
I simply smiled and shut the car door. I walked into the driveway, telling my dad about the plans and how he had to pick us up from the movies. He agreed to it, and I went in the house to get myself ready.

Tonight was going to be a good night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: So we take what comes, and we keep on going**

The hour I had to get ready, I spent quickly throwing together a casual but nice outfit for my "date", if you wanted to call it that, with Kendall. It took a couple tries, but eventually, I got myself together. And I looked nice.

I wore skinny jeans from Hollister with zebra striped flats, and a white cami under a plain black shirt that flowed and flared, but not too much, and it still highlighted my figure. I looked nice, but not too dressy or under-dressed, and it was perfect for tonight.

I suddenly realized that it was four-fifty-five and soon Kendall would be over, but my makeup wasn't fixed yet. So, hurrying but still trying to be careful, I fixed my makeup. It turned out good for as fast as I did it.

Running into the bathroom, I brushed my teeth rather quickly, then started to brush my hair.

I heard the door to the garage of my house - the door we normally used to get in and out - open and shut. I heard nobody walking, so I thought my dad just peeked in and out for something. As I was brushing my hair under the lights above my bathroom mirror, I started to sing my favorite song.

Under my breath, I began singing - "Rollin' past graffiti walls, billboards lighting up the block, every one of us on a mission."

Then I got slightly louder - "Got a whole crew by my side, cars beep beep when they pass us by. Be ready to get down to business."

I put my hairbrush down, then started to fix my hair how I wanted it with my fingers. "We go up, open the door, all the girls scream 'There they are'. It's packed from wall to wall and everybody is calling."

I picked up the brush again and did some more fixing of what my fingers screwed up. "Here we come, it's almost time. Feel the rush, now hit the lights."

And just as I was about to finish the last line of the bridge right before the chorus, a familiar and beautiful voice joined in singing with me - "We're gonna get it all started."

Realizing someone was singing along, I looked to my right to see Kendall leaning on the arm of the couch, watching me carefully. Without saying any words, I put my hairbrush down, turned off the lights over the mirror, and started walking slowly to him. I stopped at the door, and leaned on the wall. We were about three feet from each other, and we continued singing without taking our eyes off each other.

"Because the night is young, the light is out the door, today was crazy, but tonight the city is ours." Slowly I started walking towards him as we continued. He stood up straight and waited for me to reach him as we kept singing, "Live it up until the morning comes, today was crazy, but tonight," I was right in front of him now, and his hands were on my hips. I put my hands over his and held them there as we finished perfectly - "The city is ours."

He then rested his forehead against mine and looked down at me with the green eyes that stole my heart from the very beginning. I wanted to lean up to kiss him, but I resisted and played hard-to-get, taking my forehead away from his.

"Are we going, or what?" I joked with him, smiling.

"Let's," He said, grabbing me by the wrist and running out the door with me.

"Have your cell phone and your money?" My dad yelled as Kendall was tugging me toward his mom's car.

"Yeah dad!" I yelled back. "I'll call you when the movie's over!" I waved bye and gave my dad a loving look as I sat in the usual spot in the backseat of the car with Kendall.

It was a short ride, filled with Kendall and I humming in harmony to the tune of City is Ours. I was loving every second of this. His mom didn't question us, or what we were humming, but every now and again she would look in the rearview mirror at he and I, and give me a meaningful smile. Of course, I did nothing but smile widely back, keeping my mouth shut so I could hum along with Kendall.

We pulled up to the front of the movie theatre and we got out of the car. I thanked Kendall's mom for the ride, and she was pleased to have given me it.

We then walked into the theater, and I had no idea what movie we were seeing, but Kendall did. Without paying attention to any words he spoke to the woman at the ticket booth, I watched him carefully. He got two tickets, and gave one to me. We then walked into the lobby.

"Theater 9," He informed me, looking down at me with a smile. I met his eyes, then looked down at my ticket.

"Eclipse?" I asked happily, wondering how he knew I was a Twilight fan. "You're willing to sit in a Twilight movie with me?"

"I saw the books on the table by your couch," He smiled nicely. I kept my four Twilight books on that table, and I was pleased to know he noticed and cared about my interests.

We walked into the theater without speaking. We picked a seat all the way in the top row, and sat there and watched the movie in silence, Kendall with his arm around me, and me with my right hand on Kendall's left knee.

The movie ended and we were two of the first couple people to hop down the steps and leave.

"That was actually a really good movie," Kendall laughed, as if he had expected different.

"It was," I agreed, laughing. "I really liked it, especially because I saw it with you."

He looked down at me meaningfully, and I looked at him and smiled widely, showing my teeth.

He then moved closer to me, threw his arm around my shoulder, and escorted me into the lobby of the theater with him, almost as if he was showing me off like some sort of prize. Even though it wasn't good to show people off, I was proud to be Kendall's prize, because of course, he was mine.

And who was in the lobby but Kaleb, and his group of older friends, glaring at Kendall and I as we came. Had Kaleb known about my plans? It sure seemed it, the way he looked at Kendall.

"Kendall," I started nervously, whispering.

"What is it, Becca?" He asked me, suddenly concerned at my tone of voice.

"K-Kaleb," I spit out. Kaleb looked like he wanted to destroy Kendall. So did all of his friends. "Let's ... let's just go."

Kendall looked over at Kaleb and his friends, then back at me. "No, no," He reassured me. "Let me take care of this."

Kendall turned in Kaleb's direction. I feared what was about to happen.

"Is there a problem?" Kendall yelled to Kaleb from across the lobby. All the other bystanders turned to watch; for Kendall was loud.

Kaleb came walking over, pretending to be tough, and stopped three inches from Kendall's face.

"I want my girl back," Kaleb threatened, folding his arms across his chest. Kendall glared right back into Kaleb's eyes. I could tell Kaleb was threatened, but he wasn't backing down yet.

Kendall started chuckling at what Kaleb said. "No," Kendall said simply, shoving Kaleb back a step by just poking him in the chest with his finger.

"Yes," Kaleb insisted, putting his hands on Kendall's chest and trying to shove him - which of course, didn't work - but I didn't like it.

"Hey!" I yelled at Kaleb, angry now.

Kendall came at Kaleb fast, and Kaleb, as a reaction, punched Kendall in the face. The rest of the people watching gasped, along with me.

Kendall stood there, and started laughing again. Kaleb didn't know how to react, or what to expect. Neither did I. And then, with one swift movement, Kendall wailed Kaleb in the face.

Kaleb staggered back a couple steps, and when he looked back up at Kendall, his nose began to bleed. The blood dripped fast, and he was severely bleeding. Kendall might have broken Kaleb's nose.

Kaleb came charging back at Kendall, and I didn't know what was going to happen now. I didn't want to see it either, so naturally, I jumped in.

"No!" I yelled, getting a running start and jumping on Kaleb's back, driving him out of Kendall's direction.

Kaleb was trying to shake me off, but he couldn't. I grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, cracking his neck audibly. Kendall was in the background laughing, and I wanted to laugh along, but I was too angry, and my rage took over.

"Don't you dare touch him!" I yelled at Kaleb. My legs were wrapped around Kaleb's stomach as a secure grip so I wouldn't fall off, and I took advantage of this. I tightened my legs quickly, pushing my feet into Kaleb's stomach. At this he choked and gagged, and I continued to defend Kendall.

People who worked at the theater were watching rather than attempting to stop what was going on. And frankly, I was pretty sure they were enjoying it almost as much as Kendall was.

I let go of Kaleb's hair and threw his head down, cracking his neck again. His arms came up to try to get me off, and I grabbed them and locked them uncomfortably behind his back, feeling both his shoulders pop at the movement I had forced upon them. He let out a little yelp of pain, and at this I was satisfied.

I hopped off his back and kicked him in the back of the knee, causing him to fall to the ground. I smiled, proud of myself.

"Don't you ever try anything like that again," I said to him, kicking his shin once more. Everyone watching started laughing and clapping, and Kendall threw his arm around me yet again as I moved my hair out of my face.

"You're amazing," He said to me, and we both started laughing.

"So are you, Kendall," I said, moving my hand around his back to hold him.

Then I pulled my phone out of my back pocket, dialing my dad's number and putting the phone up to my ear.

"Now, let's go home," I said, smiling up at Kendall. He smiled back down at me happily, and we walked out of the theater together.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Leaning on each other's shoulders**

A couple minutes went by and my dad was in front of the theater, ready to take Kendall and I back home.

As he and I were about to jump in the back of my dad's car, Kaleb and his friends were exiting the theater, probably to find us. Luckily, we were about to be on our way home.

As he probably usually would've done anyway, Kendall hopped off the curb before me and opened the back door to my dad's car, politely gesturing for me to go in before him. I smiled at him happily, and crawled into the back. I sat and got myself comfortable, then turned only to see Kendall turned around, mockingly waving goodbye to Kaleb and his friends. He then turned back around, got in the car, and shut the door after him. My dad pulled away, leaving Kaleb and his friends staring angrily at the car as it left.

Kendall and I were laughing as we turned around to watch them out the back window of the car.

"Look at him," Kendall said, trying to contain his laughter. "He looks like he wants to jump off the sidewalk in front of one of the cars," He started laughing even harder now, and so did I.

This was the first time Kendall and I actually shared a good laugh together. I loved it, and I knew he did too. His laughter rung beautifully like windchimes, almost like the way he sung. When he laughed, he fully smiled, and it made me so happy to see him smile like that. Despite the fact that I loved his usual crooked half-smile just as much, it was good to see him show off all of his bright white teeth like he was now.

We were endlessly cracking up in the back of my car for more than half the ride; coming off with more jokes about Kaleb, the way Kendall punched him, and the way I attacked him.

Our laughter had mildly stopped by the time we actually got home. We were still giggling away when we pulled onto our street. When I realized my dad had pulled into my driveway, I was sad to know Kendall had to go back home.

We got out of the car and stood in the driveway with depressing looks on our faces, sad that the night had to end. It wasn't until then that I had realized how amazingly attractive Kendall looked; I hadn't looked anywhere but his mesmerizing green eyes all day.

He was nicely dressed in straight, almost-skinny, dark colored jeans, a black v-neck shirt with a gray cardigan slung casually over it, and black and white checkered vans. Too bad I had to watch all of this good-looking godly figure that currently stood in front of me walk away, and not be able to see him until tomorrow.

"I wish I didn't have to go home and leave you," Kendall said with a sigh, showing his half smile that made me crazy.

I opened my mouth to reply to Kendall when my dad started to say something to me. With a sigh, I closed my mouth and listened to my dad.

"Oh, Rebecca," He called from inside the garage. "Your mother and I are going out to dinner with Carol and Jim tonight."

Carol and Jim were neighbors of ours that lived to the right of Kendall. My mom was friends with Carol since they were kids, so now that they lived so close, they did things together a lot.

"How long are you going to be gone?" I asked curiously, hinting to my dad at letting me keep Kendall with me for company while they were gone.

"I don't know," He said with a displeased tone. "Late, probably. You know your mother and Carol."

I laughed at what my dad said, and so did Kendall. I looked to his face, examining his gorgeous green eyes carefully, then I smiled, turning my head to my dad's direction.

"Hey dad," I called, about to ask him a question.

He turned to me. "What?"

"Can Kendall stay with me while you guys are gone? There's some homework I have to finish for my reading class, and I need his help with it," I lied; I had no homework. I just wanted Kendall's company, being that my parents weren't going to be home for a long time.

"Sure, he can stay," My dad allowed. I was extremely happy now. "But, he has to be home by eleven-thirty."

"No problem, Mr. Schmidt," Kendall agreed with a thankful smile.

My dad smiled back. "You can call me Jeff, you know."

Was this for real? Did my dad really approve of Kendall?

"Wait here," I told Kendall, still smiling.

I ran over to my dad and turned him the opposite direction of Kendall. "Do you approve of Kendall being around a lot?" I whispered anxiously.

"Yes, I do," My dad said, smiling back at me. "Kendall's a good kid. Bring him around anymore. I don't want to see any other kid but him. Is that clear?"

"Will do!" I said excitedly, not whispering anymore.

I ran right back over to Kendall at the speed of light. And in one breath, I said to Kendall, "My dad likes you."

We smiled at each other, and knew everything was going to be one-hundred percent easy from here on.

After my parents had left with the neighbors, Kendall and I were sitting on my living room couch, indian-style, so close that our knees were touching, as he was teaching me how to be good at patty-cake. And, like always, I kept screwing up at it. It was something I never had talent with.

After screwing up for the twenty-sixth time, I smiled, hung my head down and flopped my hands in my lap.

"I suck at patty-cake," I said to Kendall, smiling down at my hands as I examined how red they were because of the constant patty-cake-ing that previously took place.

"No you don't," Kendall said in a happy tone of voice, putting his hand on my chin and lifting my face up to meet his eyes. He was closer to my face than I expected him to be. I smiled at him, looking into his beautiful eyes. He lifted my hands out of my lap, and interlocked his fingers into mine, letting our hands drop back down onto our knees.

Our faces stayed extremely close, and Kendall's eyes got bright, and he smiled wide. He got an idea, or something went through his mind, and I wanted to know what it was.

"What?" I asked, holding back a giggle at the clever look he now had.

He got about a centimeter closer to me. "I just want to try one thing," He smiled. "Just stay still."

I did as he said, and waited for him to do whatever it was that he was going to try.

"Close your eyes," He instructed, and I quickly obeyed.

Seconds went by with nothing happening except for the feeling that Kendall was moving closer to me. Getting nervous, I swallowed heavily, not knowing what was coming. I took a deep breath through my nose, and just as I breathed it out, I felt Kendall's nose touch mine.

Was this really happening?

Trying not to bite my lip in excitement, I kept my mouth shut. And, before I knew it, his lips were touching mine gently.

In disbelief, I opened my eyes. There he was, eyes closed, right in front of my face. I took advantage of the moment and closed my eyes again, kissing him back, but harder.

Then I couldn't control myself anymore. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me. His hands moved to my hips, and I knocked him gently back onto the couch, resting myself on top of him as we continued to kiss.

I moved my hands through his nice, soft hair, and then down onto his shoulder. And suddenly he pulled away. I looked at him, confused.

"Let's not get too carried away," He laughed. "We're only teenagers." We had stopped kissing, but we didn't change positions. I was still lying softly on top of him as he held me there, hands on my hips.

I started to laugh. I couldn't help but become quirky because of what just happened. He smiled and giggled with me, too.

"Do you want to know what five things I love most about you?" I asked him, looking down on him as my hair brushed off of his cheek.

"What's that?" He asked, moving one of his hands from my hip and brushing my hair behind my ear.

"First, that you're so good looking," I started. He didn't interrupt, and he politely listened to what I had to say. "Second, that your voice sounds amazing, whether you're laughing, singing, or just talking. Third, that of all the girls in school, you picked me. Fourth, that it's only been two days, and you make me feel like I'm on top of the world," I sighed happily. "And fifth," I paused, looking at him and how happy he seemed. "Fifth, is that there's one thing about you - I'm not sure what it is - but it drives me wild."

I put my head down next to his, resting it on his shoulder. He wrapped his hands around my back, hugging me tightly to him as we lay there.

"You're amazing," He said to me.

"As if you're not," I said back, smiling.

"And do you want to know what five things I love most about you?" He asked.

"Of course I do," I said, my grin widening.

Like he did for me, I didn't interrupt him, and I let him speak in his angelic voice.

"First, you're too pretty," He said. Even though I disagreed, I let him continue. "Second, _your_ eyes drive _me_ wild. Third, as soon as I saw you, I fell for you. Fourth, I've never felt like this about anyone before. You're one of a kind, and you're perfect to me. And, finally, fifth, it's only been two days, like you said. And my feelings for you are so strong."

I sighed in happiness at how wonderful he made me feel. "Oh, Kendall ..." I said, leaning up to kiss his cheek. At this he blushed lightly.

"Can I tell you something?" He asked me.

"You can," I said back.

"I've never had a girlfriend before."

"What?" I asked in shock. "How could someone so ... so perfect, never have had a girlfriend before?" I was supposed to have thought that to myself, but it slipped out. He chuckled.

"None of the girls in Minnesota caught my interest quite like you did," He told me, smiling. "So you have to promise you won't hurt me, if things get more serious between us."

I just looked at him, still shocked, but happy.

"Go easy on me," He smiled, bringing me closer to him, and kissing me on the forehead.

He held me tight as I replied, "Kendall, I'd never hurt you."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Then we turn around, and see we've come so far somehow**

The night went by too fast for me to keep up with. Kendall and I had so much fun with each other, and I didn't want it to end. But eventually, it had to, and I watched Kendall longingly as he walked across the street to his house.

He hopped up the front steps, and before going in the door, he turned around to look at me. We met gazes, smiled sympathetically, and he blew me a kiss. I smiled from ear to ear, and blew one back. He pretended to catch it, put it up to his chest where his heart would be, gave me one last look, then turned to walk inside.

With a sigh, I walked back into my garage, shutting the door. Then I went into the house, and gave my parents a call, notifying them that Kendall had gone home and that I was going to sleep.

I changed out of my clothes quickly, running into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, the usual before-bed preparations, then I strolled back into my room and turned off the light. Lunging through a five-foot jump from the light switch to my bed, I made it successfully. Two seconds passed and I was beyond comfortable. I was more exhausted than I expected to be.

Looking at my alarm clock, tired and dazed, I examined it carefully, trying to get what it said through my mind. Finally, what I saw translated into something - eleven-forty-five. I let out a big huff of cold, minty, toothpaste-y breath, and rolled over only to immediately fall asleep.

That night I dreamt of Kendall.

The dream was like a scene from Eclipse. In fact, it was a scene from Eclipse - the movie I coincidentally had just seen with him - but the characters weren't actually from the movie. I took the place of Bella, Kendall took the place of Edward, and Kaleb took the place of the leader of the pack of vampires that wanted to destroy Edward and Bella, or, in this case, Kendall and I.

The movie was perfectly like the fight scene where the leader of the pack of vampires attacked Edward, and Victoria was coming after Bella. All the same things happened, but what I remembered most from the dream was the way Bella cut her arm, causing the vampires to go wild because of her blood, and the two vampires went for Bella. But, Edward - or Kendall - destroyed them both, and we lived.

This dream was probably caused by what happened in the movie theater with Kaleb.

After the freakish dream I had, I couldn't get the image of Kaleb punching Kendall out of my head. In my mind I was nervous, and crying, but I knew I was still dreaming.

The image must have replayed about ninety times when a voice in the back of my mind finally yelled "Wake up!"

It shook me right out of my sleep.

I woke up only to find my face wet with sweat and tears. I lifted my shirt, wiping my face with it. I sat directly up, glancing over to my mirror. I was suddenly hotter than I was laying down, and I saw that my eyes and face were red. Springing off my bed, I was across the room in two steps, flicking on the light.

My parents still weren't home. How long had it been since I had fallen asleep?

I looked at my alarm clock. Two-fifteen. Typical - my parents were always out extremely late with the neighbors.

I stumbled out into the hallway and into the bathroom to splash my face with cold water. After doing this about fifteen times, I shut the water off, and looked into the mirror. My face wasn't red any longer, but my eyes were. Seeing that image of Kendall being punched by Kaleb made me so angry and upset to the point of excessive tears.

I walked out of the bathroom and back into my room, now even more tired than I was when I first fell asleep.

Faintly from the hallway I heard a guitar strumming. The noise was coming from my backyard, and I thought it was just the radio that my parents left on for my dog before they left. Shaking the noise out of my mind, I flopped back onto my bed, but this time I left the light on.

The strumming got louder. I was confused. The radio didn't turn up the volume on its own.

I got up and went to the window to try to hear the radio and see what was up with it.

Looking down at the windowsill, I opened the window, listening through the screen without looking up.

I kept my head down and rubbed my eyes while I listened. It took me a little to realize that the radio was actually playing some sort of pop music in the background of a guitar strumming.

Giving my eyes one final wipe, I looked up, squinting past the light coming from the house's spotlight.

I pushed my matted hair back off my forehead, hoping it would help me see clearer.

Finally, my eyes ceased to blur my vision, and I saw where the strumming guitar was really coming from.

It was Kendall, standing out in my yard, playing his guitar - which, I didn't know he had - to an unfamiliar tune.

"Kendall?" I asked, my voice cracking. "What're you doing?"

Snickering at how tired I was, Kendall gave a quick laugh, and knowing I was now paying full attention, he started to sing.

The first words he sung were packed with meaning - "Now I'm about to give you my heart, but remember this one thing. I've never been in love before, so you gotta go easy on me."

I smiled, realizing he had told me to go easy on him while we were together. Had he wrote this song for me?

"I heard love is dangerous, and once you fall, you're never getting up." He sung the truth in a wonderfully beautiful voice.

"But the thought of you leaving ain't so easy for me. Don't hurt me, desert me, make me sorry I ever counted on you." He sung the things I promised him I'd never do. I smiled wider now.

"One, two, three, four, to the five, baby, I'm counting on you," I realized he was singing up to the number five - I had told him the five things I loved most about him before.

Then he repeated it, and put extra emphasis on "you" when he ended. His voice gave me chills.

"Understand I've been here before, I thought I found someone I finally could adore. But she failed my test, I gotta know her better, saw I wasn't the only one," He sang, and this line related to the girls in Minnesota he met but didn't have interest in. Every line so far related to that meaningful conversation we had before.

"But I'm willing to put my trust in you, baby, you can put your trust in me. Just like the count of three, you can count on me, and you're never gonna see," I smiled, getting stimulating goosebumps now.

"No numbers in my pocket, anything I'm doing, girl I'll drop it for you, cause you're the one I'm giving my heart to, but I gotta be the only one, two, three, four, to the five," The last word transitioned into the chorus.

"Baby I'm counting on you, one, two, three, four, to the five. One, two, three, four, to the five, baby I'm counting on you. One, two, three, four, to the five, baby, I'm counting on you," His voice sounded wonderful. I was so happy now, realizing this song really was for me.

Then he finished beautifully - "Now I'm about to give you my heart, so remember this one thing. I've never been in love before, yeah, you gotta go easy on me," His voice grew slower when he began to say 'Easy on me,' and he strummed the guitar one final time, giving the song a fantastic ending.

"Kendall," I said, speechless. My eyes began tearing, and he smiled up at me from the green grass, his eyes sparkling mystically because of the spotlight still on him.

Not being able to control myself anymore, two tears streamed down my face, quickly reaching my chin and dripping onto my chest, making a mark on my white shirt. Suddenly I was crying harder than I was in the dream, but these were tears of pure joy.

I tore out of my bedroom, through the living room, out onto the patio, opened the door, and flung myself out into the yard, skipping all three steps from the door to the actual ground.

I sprinted from the side of the yard that my door led out into to where Kendall was standing outside my window, his guitar on the ground now, turned expectantly to where I was running to him from, almost like he knew I'd come running from the second the song ended.

Salty drops of water poured down my face by the bucketful.

I flung myself at him, throwing my arms around his shoulders and wrapping my legs around his waist, letting him hold me. I sobbed audibly, and hugged him tighter than I ever hugged anyone before.

I broke through my sobs momentarily to speak to Kendall.

"I loved that song more than anything or anyone I've ever loved," I said, my voice muffled because my face was buried into his shoulder.

Suddenly, I thought I actually loved Kendall, having realized I never felt this way about anyone before. But, I didn't tell him this; I didn't want to scare him away.

He laughed and picked up my face so my eyes could meet his. I was crying heavily, and I didn't want him to see this, so I continued to looked down at the huge wet spot I put on the shoulder of Kendall's powder-blue t-shirt.

He realized I wasn't cooperating, and he lifted my chin, making me look at him by force.

"S-sorry I got your shirt all wet," I sniffled, trying to contain my tears.

"It's okay," He said soothingly, wiping my face with his only free hand; the other had was wrapped around my back, securely keeping me attached to his body. My legs were still wrapped around him and everything. "So I take it you liked my song?" He smiled, pushing my hair off of my face.

"I just told you that," I said with a blank expression. Only I knew that I was teasing him. Kendall's smile faded and he looked at me questioningly.

"I kid," I told him, laughing. His mouth spread into a smile again and laughed along. "That song was amazing. Did you write that just now?" I asked.

"Yep. I spent all night writing it, since the second I went home. I knew I had to make something out of the conversation we had," He looked deeply into my eyes, smiling.

"You, Kendall, are unbelievably amazing. I never expected someone quite like you to come into my life, but I'm so happy you did," I said, starting to sob again.

"I agree completely," He said, still looking into my eyes that were probably even more red than before.

He leaned into my face and kissed me. The spotlight clicked off, leaving us in the dark, still kissing. We kissed for about fifteen minutes, when he finally pulled away and said to me, "As long as it is possible for me, I will not leave your side for anyone, or for anything. I want to be with you forever. And I know it's only been about three days, but you are already so important to me that I know I could never live or be myself without you."

Starting to cry again, I tried to keep my words short, knowing my voice would crack ridiculously because of that.

"Ditto," I choked out simply, and grabbed the back of his head gently, pulling him to my face, and continuing to kiss him. I laughed to myself because his hair was still as soft as before.


End file.
